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Exquisitely Tender
by Cindee Snider Re Love is a prism of emotion pinioned in the soul Held fast, uncertain, cautious, Remembering the ache of yesterday's Misspoken word, An anchor line sheared in a squall of sickness, Death's inescapable grasp. Yet too full not to bleed through the skin, Seep into the eyes And escape the tongue, By sheerest nuance of an ordinary word. Love is an unheard voice In an Indonesian hospital, asking, "Is it the rainy season there, Papa?" A diminutive doll with deep brown eyes And long, straight black hair In a sterile room Recovering from Typhoid. Love is five first cousins, Fiercely loyal, unknowingly exclusive, Confident en mass, Suddenly standing as F O U R In the beat of a heart That beats no more. Love is silently slipping the cellophane Off the last mint as the pastor speaks, And reluctantly placing it in The outstretched hand to my left. Love is a stream of tears splashing Into a dish of forgotten ice cream As words sail across state lines And shatter my heart. Love is ninety-eight years across four generations Rearranging summer schedules, games and practices To gather each July on the shores of Lake Michigan Because, "Family matters." Love is sitting vigil through the long hours Of the night, Silently present, simply another Heart beating in the dark Because sometimes, "It's too hard to be alone." Love is inconvenient And consuming. Sometimes requiring more than I have -- More than I can imagine, More than I'm willing or able to pay. And yet I do. It's easy to give in abundance When the cost is light and time is free, But when the price inflates, I balk, clenching my fist against Fear creeping in among the shadows, Refusing to expend, Determined to preserve myself. Because love hurts And it costs everything. All I have, all I feel, All that I am. But then love fills. Effervescing from the depths of loss, Oozing into the soul And suffusing life with Eden's joy, A touch so exquisitely tender It hurts, Shattering the bonds Constraining my soul And exploding into brilliant silence Replete with the fullness of speech, Intimate communion with the Holy One, The great I AM, The source and genesis, Of the pure and perfect Wellspring of LOVE. Cindee Snider Re lives in Sussex, WI with her husband, their five children, two cats, and two Shichon puppies. She enjoys quiet evenings, long walks, good books, homeschooling her kids, and lots of good, strong, hot, black tea. August, 2011 http://www.BreatheDeeply.org Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |